Haitian Police, UN Troops Raid Aristide Stronghold

Haitian police backed by U.N. peacekeepers raided a slum stronghold of supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday and arrested 75 people accused of violent attacks in the Haitian capital, a police spokeswoman said. Some 150 police and 200 peacekeepers carried out the raid in the Bel-Air slum, where bursts of shooting were heard throughout the day. "Our intelligence lead us to believe that gangs in Bel-Air had a plan to attack the presidential palace," said the police spokeswoman, commissioner Jessie Coicou. "When we stormed the slum, the bandits apparently had time to transport the weapons in another slum." The raid was the first joint operation against armed gangs conducted by Haitian police and U.N. troops sent to stabilize the Caribbean nation after Aristide went into exile amid an armed revolt in February. [more ]

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